I’ve been busy this week finishing up new issues of my Smeary Soapbox Press-ents minicomic series for debut at this Friday’s Memphis Zine Fest! Be sure to stop by and check out this free, all-ages celebration of local talent– bring some dollars, because there’s bound to be at least one zine you can’t go home without! In addition to my new comics, it will also feature the debut of brand new zines from creators at last weekend’s Public Zine Workshop and this week’s Youth Zine Workshop. It should be a blast!

What?!? “He just likes to” what? It’s just one short week until we can both find out…

I was lucky enough to visit Chicago Comics on my recent trip to the City of Big Shoulders; it’s a great store, conveniently located off the CTA Red Line, so there’s no excuse not to visit if you’re in the area. Plus, they’re nice enough to carry a sampling of Watusi comics! Be sure to tell your friends!

Sounds like Oz is Watusi’s kind of place! Maybe he won’t go back to Wonder Valley…

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By the way, the above episode is a revised strip; it was originally published as this photo of the completely unedited drawing:

So, you may be asking “where’s the color?” “What’s up with this ‘new look’ Watusi?” Well, funny story…

You’ve probably heard about the storms that blew through Memphis last weekend; in my case they also blew down a tree in my neighborhood! While it missed my studio, and all the houses involved, it sheared off the utility pole that services my studio! So, I had to put this week’s strip together as best as I could without power and without most of my usual tools. It gives you a little behind-the-scenes peek at how I put a strip together, as this state is a fairly typical inked page before I do clean up in the production stage.

I once read that cartooning is “the best an artist can do on a deadline”– or in this case, under adverse conditions– and that’s never felt more true to me than this week! Here’s hoping that things will be back to normal in time for the next episode!